Coming off one of their most lopsided defeats of the season, the Celtics capitalized on an ideal get-right opportunity Friday night.
Boston pummeled a shorthanded, lottery-bound Sacramento Kings squad, 112-93, at TD Garden.
With Jaylen Brown sitting out with hamstring and knee injuries, Payton Pritchard spearheaded Boston’s offense, scoring 22 of his 29 points in the first half and adding eight assists. Neemias Queta shot 4-for-11 but totaled 10 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and one block in his return from a lingering illness.
Baylor Scheierman, making his fourth start of the season in Brown’s absence, finished with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting (4-for-7 from 3-point range) and five rebounds.
The Celtics — who lost by double digits at home Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 1, 117-106 to the Atlanta Hawks — improved to 30-18 with the win.
The 12-38 Kings were playing without three of their top players (Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Russell Westbrook) on the second night of a back-to-back. They have lost eight straight and 15 of their last 19.
Boston will host another scuffling opponent Sunday afternoon when the 18-28 Milwaukee Bucks visit Causeway Street without their injured superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Celtics sprinted out to an 11-1 lead, prompting Kings head coach Doug Christie to call his first timeout less than two minutes after tipoff. Queta, who returned after missing Wednesday’s game, opened the scoring with back-to-back lob finishes, then fed Pritchard for a driving layup.
Queta scored or assisted on five of Boston’s first seven made baskets during an impressive opening shift.
“I think I recovered pretty well,” said Queta, who came down with his illness late last week. “The last couple games, it was a little bit hard to go out there and just try to help the team. So getting these last couple of days off just to recover and get back to full strength, that was huge for me. I felt good out there.”
The 26-year-old was both healthy and motivated entering Friday’s matchup. The Kings drafted Queta in 2021, then cut him two years later. He said he “definitely” gets up for Boston’s biannual matchups against his former team.
“Honestly, I feel like it was one of those things I can’t control, but of course I’m not happy about it,” he said. “Just trying to use it as extra motivation to just go out there and just keep on being the best version of myself.”
The first quarter was an offensive bonanza for the Celtics. They outscored the Kings 40-25 by going 5-for-10 from 3-point range — with makes by five different players — 11-for-12 in the paint and 7-for-7 inside the restricted area. Pritchard scored 11 in the period on 5-of-5 shooting, and White capped it with a buzzer-beating floater.
Sacramento responded with a 10-2 run to open the second quarter, and the Celtics’ perimeter shooting efficiency dipped for a spell. But they made up for it with strong offensive rebounding, particularly by backup big man Luka Garza. Garza grabbed three offensive boards and scored off all three as part of a nine-point first half. Hugo Gonzalez also corralled a loose ball to set up a second-chance 3-pointer by Pritchard.
It was one of four threes Pritchard hit during a sensational first half. The Celtics guard also picked the Kings apart inside, going 9-for-11 from the field to enter halftime with 22 points and eight assists. His banked-in 11-footer made it 72-46 at the break, closing out a 25-6 Celtics run.
“I just did a good job of making the right reads, getting to my spots, reading the driving lanes,” Pritchard said. “I thought I made good passing reads. Almost like, like a QB, you know — you’re always just making the right read to take what the defense gives you. So I thought I did a high level tonight in the first half.”
Team-wide, Boston shot a remarkable 85% on 2-pointers before halftime (17-for-20) and did not miss any of its attempts at the rim (11-for-11). At the other end, their defense held the Kings to just one make inside the restricted area and 33.3% shooting from 2-point range. Sacramento was even shakier from three, going 5-for-17 (29.4%) before half.
Scheierman helped Boston pad its lead in the third quarter with two 3-pointers sandwiched around a series of hustle plays. The gritty wing threw a rebound off a Kings player to give the Celtics possession, picked off a Dennis Schroder pass and gathered an offensive rebound after his own missed three. His fourth trey of the game put Boston up 80-52 midway through the third.
Though he’s received less attention than fellow depth wings Gonzalez and Jordan Walsh, Scheierman has seen action in 35 of the Celtics’ last 36 games, establishing himself as a helpful rotation player in his second pro season.
“He’s developed into a utility guy for us defensively where he can defend different matchups,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He’s made some plays. He draws some illegal screens for us. He can make defensive plays, but he knows how to play versus cross-matches at the other end. He’s been making some shots, and he offensive rebounds. So I’m pleased with here he’s grown defensively for us.”
Boston scored just 17 points in the third quarter and 23 in the fourth, but their lead never dropped below 16 during a largely uneventful second half.
Other observations:
— With the Celtics up big in the final minutes, Mazzulla gave Chris Boucher his first playing time since before Thanksgiving. The reserve big man has been out of the rotation since Nov. 23, remaining on the bench even in blowouts until Friday’s cameo.
Despite his team’s comfortable lead, Boucher closed the game with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. That shot visibly annoyed Westbrook, who was in street clothes on Sacramento’s bench. The two veterans had words after the final horn, but their conversation appeared to end amicably.
Wing Josh Minott, who’s appeared in just three games since late December, also subbed in late.
— A handful of Patriots players were in attendance ahead of their trip to Santa Clara, Calif., for Super Bowl LX. All received rousing ovations, with the loudest reserved for Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez, whose AFC Championship interception was shown on the Jumbotron. Former New England safety Patrick Chung also watched the game from courtside seats.
